Mooresville senior Jalen Chambers, comfortable back at home, ready for a bigger role
When Mooresville High’s Jalen Chambers opted to transfer to his hometown school last season, he quickly became one of the Blue Devils’ go-to guys.
Now that the 6-foot-3 point guard is in his final year at Mooresville, Chambers is looking to accomplish bigger things with the Blue Devils’ boys’ basketball program.
“Definitely — I’m super excited to lead this team as far as we can go this year,” said Chambers, one of the team’s captains this season.
Before transferring to Mooresville last season, Chambers spent his first two seasons on the varsity at Lake Norman Christian, a private school located in Huntersville that played in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association.
As a freshman with the Storm, he was an undersized (5-foot-11) point guard on a team that finished 19-6. But Chambers grew two inches over the offseason, coming into his sophomore season at 6-1.
However, as he was growing physically, Chambers was also growing mentally — and he quickly figured that he needed to find a new place to play.
“Honestly, I just made the best decision for my future,” Chambers said. “Coming from my ninth- and 10th-grade years, I had to see and make the right decision.
“Coach (Armard) Moore, he gave me the opportunity to come over to Mooresville. That’s what I wanted to do; that’s where I wanted to be.”
At Lake Norman Christian, Chambers spent both seasons coming off the bench — playing just 12 games his freshman year, and 10 as a sophomore.
But with the Blue Devils, Chambers — who had grown two more inches over the summer — was joining a team that finished 21-4 the previous year, Mooresville’s first 20-win season in decades.
However, last year’s team was also missing its three leading scorers, but Chambers quickly caught on with his teammates — and started to make a difference.
“Jalen was one of those guys who’s very smart, very high IQ,” Moore said. “With us, we want to put those guys on the floor to make plays. That’s exactly what he is … and he helped us out a lot last year.”
Chambers was a big part of a Blue Devils’ team that finished 16-11 and upset Greater Metro 4A regular-season champion Lake Norman in advancing to the tournament final. He averaged 8.2 points and six rebounds a game, and led Mooresville’s defense with four steals per game.
“It wasn’t anything new to me, fitting in with new players,” Chambers said. “It’s just interacting with them, off and on the court, which really made me vibe with everybody.
“It was just me learning my role, just me being me overall and being a really good teammate.”
Chambers is now one of five seniors on this year’s Blue Devils squad, which also lost 6-4 shooting guard Travelle Bryson to Legacy Early College in South Carolina over the summer.
“He has to do a little more than he did last year,” Moore said of Chambers. “He has to score the ball a little bit more, and he has to play a little bit more. Everything has to increase from him. They’ve all got to do a little bit more from last year.”
